1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a double-sided adhesive tape and a process for attaching a sealing element which comprises a sealing body, made of silicone, to an application site using silicon cement.
2. Description of Related Art
In the motor vehicle domain, there are silicone seals which are provided with an insertion foot, by means of which they can be inserted at the application site. This type of attachment however entails high production demand and high demand for installation space and is disadvantageous in this respect.
Furthermore, commonly-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/698,139 discloses a silicone seal which can be attached by means of a liquid silicone cement to an adhesive tape which acts on one side; its outer adhesive surface which is initially covered by a protective film is used for attachment at an application site after the protective film is removed. The several hours of setting time of the liquid silicone cement makes process-reliable use difficult in mass production designed for rapid throughput. Another disadvantage of this silicone seal is that, by using liquid silicone cement, a soft-elastic connection between the carrier element and the sealing body of the sealing element takes place, since liquid silicone cements, as a permanently sticky cement, leads to a reversible adhesive connection which, under certain stress conditions, leads to an adverse effect on sealing action, for example, when used in sliding motor vehicle roofs.
Due to the soft-elastic connection, displacement as far as detachment of the sealing body can take place so that undisturbed operation of a sliding motor vehicle roof is not guaranteed.
German Utility Model DE-G 94 17 149 discloses a sealing element with a sealing body of elastic material which has an adhesive surface, by means of which it is attached to the bottom of the cover of a sliding roof, lifting roof, etc. The adhesive surface is made on an adhesive tape which is attached with its back to a base body which is connected to the sealing body and is made of a stiffer material than the sealing body. Before attachment of the seal, the adhesive surface is protected with a removable protective film.
Other sealing elements are known from German Patent DE 197 20 713 C1 and published European Patent Application EP 0 357 973 B1, the preferred material for the sealing body being ethylene-propylene rubber (EPDM). However, this material is not optimally suited with respect to its temperature resistance, restoration behavior, sealing properties, and danger of freezing-on and conglutination.